Wayne Simmonds Video: Watch Flyers Forward Score a Goal with His Face

No doubt taking a puck off of the face is not ideal, but I have never known of a hockey player that wouldn't do it in a second if it led to a goal.

Actually, this ended up being a big play in the game by Wayne Simmonds. The Senators completely dominated the early portion of the contest, jumping out to a 3-0 lead against a struggling Flyers offense. In a way, the goal was the turning point in the game, as the Flyers dominated from that point on, winning 4-3 in a shootout.

There is also one more positive thing to note from this play: As you can see from this interview, Simmonds is okay. Yes, he took some cosmetic damage, but he actually returned to the game. So the injury, presumably, isn't that bad.

From a strategic standpoint, you're actually not going to find many prettier goals in the NHL. Yes, there are some goals that get in with a beautiful shot, pass or impressive deke, but those are the overwhelming minority. No, in hockey you score a goal by getting to the net, in front of the goalie, and hoping for a good bounce or quality obstruction.

That is precisely what Simmonds did. So, from one end, this is far from a picturesque goal, especially when you see Simmonds' bloody face afterwards. But from a hockey perspective, it's beautiful, and he could not have done a better job.

Simmonds scored a goal, got his team going in the right direction, and received a nasty little cut in the process. Overall, he did his team, and the whole sport of hockey, quite proud.